PUTRAJAYA – The Transport Ministry has yet to receive any information regarding the “Made in Malaysia” door plug that flew off Alaska Flight 1282 last week.
Minister Anthony Loke said he has not gotten confirmation on the media reports whether the manufacturing claims are authentic.
“I cannot comment on the matter as I did not receive information on this. It is also not under the ministry’s purview.
“We don’t know its authenticity, it was just based on a report from a member of the public (in Portland, United States).
“If there is an official report from the airline, we will ask the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to look into the complaint,” he said after his ministry’s event here today.
The incident with the door plug left a gaping hole in the Boeing 737 MAX 9’s fuselage, exposing the passengers of Alaska Airlines to open air.
Portland teacher Bob Sauer had discovered the door plug in his backyard and was intrigued to find that the equipment’s serial number and manufacturing details looked like they were written in permanent marker by hand.
Among others, it said it was manufactured in Malaysia and had a line unit number of 8799.
When asked about the handwritten details, planemaker Boeing said it could not comment due to the active aviation investigation.
The door plug is a panel used to seal a fuselage cutout for an optional emergency exit door. Alaska Airlines planes do not have a door there, and passengers inside would just see another window.
National Transport Safety Bureau chair Jennifer Homendy was reported as saying that a microscopic examination of the door plug would determine from “scratch marks” whether the bolts were installed.
The four bolts that should have kept the door plug in place are still missing, mis-installed or broken.
This could leave supplier Spirit AeroSystems liable for manufacturing and installing the door plug and Boeing for final inspection before sealing it behind insulation and the sidewall.
Boeing is also under a safety probe initiated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after the near-fatal Alaska Airlines incident.
This could be a result of reports from Alaska and United Airlines of “loose” hardware on delivered planes.
The FAA probe, which often results in hefty penalties, involves “additional discrepancies on other Boeing 737-9”.
Boeing has 10 days to respond and must include the root cause of the Alaska Airlines incident, actions to prevent recurrences, and other mitigating factors.
The planemaker has been in trouble before due to the fatal 2018 and 2019 crashes involving the 737 model, which led to a lengthy global grounding of the aircraft.
Currently, US regulators have grounded 171 737 MAX 9 planes that have the same configuration as the Alaska jet. – January 12, 2024